Remembering

Tonight I attended Jonna Buell's memorial service in the University Church. It was beautiful and inspiring. To read my complete review of the service, click here.

Homeward Bound

These are my favourite mountains on the way to my parents' house. They are the Elkhorn Mountains, just west of Baker, Ore. We got to see them today on our way home from spending Thanksgiving with my family in Boise. Beautiful!

Family Portrait

This afternoon, since we were dressed up for church, I thought it might be nice to get a family picture. Of course, Kayla wouldn't smile for any of them, and looked at the camera for maybe two out of 25 shots. But here's one of our attempts...not the best, but not terrible!

Welcome, Christmas!

It's tradition at the Sevison household to put up the tree and decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Usually we sleep in and spend the morning and early afternoon doing just that. This year we couldn't get everyone together until evening, so it was dark when we did the tree. That actually made it fun, because the lights looked really warm and holiday-ish. Morgan did a great job helping put the ornaments on the tree, and Kayla enjoyed watching. All three grandchildren are actually in this picture with Rachel...look closely!

Morgan was very proud of her decorating abilities. This year we used my mom's Frosty Friends series (she's been collecting them since they began in the late 70s) and homemade snowflake ornaments. The tree looks beautiful with its all-white lights and gold bead garland.

Thanksgiving 2009

My mom makes the best Thanksgiving table. Simple, elegant, beautiful. This year was no exception.

Our friends the McHutchisons joined us this year. Tara (pictured here) has been my best friend since we were 8 years old. We went to school together throughout elementary and high school, and two quarters of college. During those two quarters we were also roommates. She and her husband, Ben, were in town for the holiday, so they were able to join her family at my parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was the first time any of them had met Kayla.

After the meal, Ben decided to see what would happen to a candy pumpkin when placed in a carbonated beverage. I'm not sure why. But he tried it...in Tara's sparkling cider. It grew bubbles all around it and started letting off little air bubbles, too. It looked pretty cool, actually!

A wonderfully fun day. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Arrived

We drove to Boise today to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. Raina really enjoys my parents' house because they have nice big windows that get a lot of sun. She took full advantage of it when we got here and she finally settled down. I'm sure it was a nice change from being cooped up in the back of the Highlander for five hours.

"What'cha Doin', Mommy?"

Jason and Kayla came to hang out with me at work today. The power went out at home and he couldn't heat her bottle, and no one else was at the office, so they came and had lunch, talked, and hung out for a couple of hours while I worked. During lunch we put Kayla on her tummy and I couldn't help but take a picture, because it reminded me of a picture of my mom when she was 3 months old. (See below.)

Unknown Progress

On my way back from my mommy nursing group today I noticed them doing something at the corner of Myra and Poplar. The mall has been half-done for several months now, ever since the construction workers walked off the site due to lack of wages as a result of the low economy. However, the city continues to do things around the site, such as putting in stop lights, paving sidewalks, and creating tree-filled medians. I think here they're pouring cement for a retaining wall. Maybe someday there will be a reason to have a wall there.

The Light of Hope

Jonna Buell died yesterday evening. She'd been fighting cancer for a year, and MS for many years before that. She touched many lives, and it hurt the community immensely to lose such a wonderful blessing as Jonna was. When I got up this morning at 5 a.m. to feed Kayla I checked my FaceBook and learned that Kelie, Andy's wife, who is around 21 weeks pregnant, had been airlifted to Seattle and was in critical condition. I still don't know details, but in light of the Buell family's loss and Andy and Kelie's serious needs, I decided to have my own personal prayer vigil. So I lit a candle and put it on the dining room table where I'd see it most of the day. Every time I walked past, I said a prayer for those whose names were written on slips of paper beneath the candle. More were added as the day went on, and the candle is burning still. I think I'll continue this vigil whenever I'm home this week. It felt good to lift these wonderful people up in prayer, even if I didn't know what their needs were. I hope they felt the comfort of the Father today.

Cuddles

After church today we went over to Rachel and Charley's house for a curry dinner. So yummy! Lara and Shawn were also there, and we had a great time eating, talking, and playing games. Kayla took a 3-hour nap (it would've been longer but I woke her up - 6 p.m. is no time to be taking a 4-hour nap!), and when she woke up and had eaten, she just relaxed on the couch with Jason. Lucky Daddy!

Coffee Mommies

Today I went to coffee with two of my mommy friends, Merrie Beth (left) and Cas. Cas is moving across the state next week, so we wanted to get together one last time before she left. Here we are trying to get a group shot with our daughters: Chloe, Millie, and Kayla. Kayla wasn't too thrilled, Millie is bored, and Chloe is secretly trying to steal Millie's blanket.

Family Shot

Today Jason decided to bring me lunch instead of me driving home. It was nice because we weren't as rushed, since I didn't have to get back to work so quickly. I fed Kayla while Jason and I chatted and ate. Ruth was online at the time, so we talked with her, too. She was telling us where she was by using Google Maps and walking us through the streets of Kolobrzeg, so we sent her this picture. "This is where we are!" we told her, "It's not nearly as complicated."

Stuck

We've been having a lot of wind recently. I'm not a huge fan (no pun intended) of wind, but sometimes it can be surprising. Like today. It left a collage of leaves on our backyard fence. It looked really cool!

Greet the Day

What a way to start the week. This is the view I had while eating breakfast this morning.

Hesitant

We tried out Kayla's doorway bouncer for the first time today. I'm not sure she's really ready for it, but I wanted to give it a shot. She actually let us finish our breakfast before starting to fuss about being in it. She was just a little unsure of the new sensation of being suspended like this. We think it may need to be a bit higher...and she probably needs to be able to support herself sitting up before she can really benefit from this toy. She kept listing to one side because she doesn't have the trunk strength to hold herself upright. But she did grab at the toys a little bit...

End of an Era

WE DID IT!!! We finally finished this canister of cinnamon that's been on our shelves (yes, multiple, since we've moved many times since purchasing it) for over five years. It's true, see:

Check out the "sell by" date. And spices have much longer shelf lives than, say, milk or pre-made salad.

We had French toast for breakfast this morning and I've been trying to improve my basic childhood recipe so Jason will enjoy it more. So now I use (in addition to egg) milk, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, and, if I feel like it, a little bit of nutmeg. This morning I used the last of the never-ending cinnamon. We were beginning to wonder if Elijah prayed for our spice rack and blessed the cinnamon so we'd never run out. He may have, since we found two more bottles of it there. Sigh...

Popularity

This afternoon I was meeting Merrie Beth at Black Cup for a hot drink. Jason was tired of being in the house, so he tagged along. Unfortunately we were only able to hang out in the coffee shop for an hour since they closed at 4 p.m. (which I didn't know). Ah the joys of a small town. So after bidding adieu to MB and her daughter, Chloe, we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription, some baby wipes, and Q-Tips. I know, so exciting. While there we ran into only two people we knew. It's strange when it's so few. Especially on a Friday afternoon. This is Jason attempting not to run over the hundreds of people spilling out of the Wal-Mart doors and streaming in the other direction, all the while doing his best not to hit any of the dozens of cars pulling out from different directions around the parking lot. He did fine. No lawsuits this time. (Just for those of you who might wonder, no, we've never hit anyone and never had a lawsuit.)

Spying

When taking pictures in public places I tend to be nervous that someone will a) be offended, thinking I'm taking a picture of them, b) think I'm weird, or c) arrest me for invasion of privacy or taking pictures of people without their knowledge or taking pictures of government buildings. I'm sure I look just like their profiles of terrorists: Blonde hair, blue eyes, overweight, driving a Toyota... So occasionally I try to take covert shots in the hopes that no one will know. My sister did this recently on a street in Kolobrzeg, Poland. Apparently it runs in the family. I took this one on my way back from a staff development luncheon this afternoon. And I took it with my phone, so it looked like I was just doing something with that. Clever, I know.

Together

Tonight Jason and I got to go on a date! Rachel and Charley graciously agreed to watch Kayla for us, and we were able to enjoy a relaxed couple of hours together. We started out at Pita Pit, which may not sound all that romantic, but we were practically the only people there. It was like having our own private restaurant. Sort of. At any rate, it was delicious. After dinner we took a short walk downtown and then came back to the patisserie which is right across the street from Pita Pit. Jason got a hot chocolate, I ordered spiced apple cider, and we shared a chocolate chip cookie. The cider smelled SO GOOD!!! And it tasted just as good. We had a good time. When it was over we went to pick up Kayla and ended up staying for an hour or so, talking, while Rachel and I figured out what we're doing for special music this Sabbath. I love date nights!

Progress

They are making pretty good time expanding the shell station near my office. It's known as the "DX" to the WWU community, since it used to be called the Dairy Express. WWU used to own a dairy and they sold ice cream, milk, butter, cheese, etc. It's now a gas station and convenience store, and it sees hundreds of people every day. (The average number of sandwiches they make in a week is over 600.) They're nearly doubling its size, adding more indoor and outdoor seating, additional menu items (including smoothies - YAY!), and more. I'm excited to see it finished, and have had fun watching it grow. Today was a decent day to work outside, I'd say. Not many of those days left I'm afraid.

At the Market

The supermarket that is. Ya know, I'd never actually considered the origins of that word before, but it makes sense now that I think about it. At any rate, Jason and I went grocery shopping tonight. Going on a week night is not the best idea when you have a little one with you. I say this because she still has to eat on a schedule, and when you leave the house for an hour in the evenings after a somewhat late dinner, it sometimes messes that up. We survived, though. I just love the rows and rows of vegetables stacked high. This is my favourite section of the grocery store. One thing of note about our grocery store: There are two resident sparrows that dart around overhead while you're shopping.

Sleeping on the Job

Today Jason went to get a final load of wood. We should be pretty well stocked for the winter, which is nice, because that means we won't freeze! I was supposed to call Ruth (who is in Poland, if you recall) at 10 a.m., but...my phone broke. We don't have a land line, just our cell phones, and my BlackBerry Storm's screen completely broke. I couldn't use it at all unless someone called me. I discovered this at 9:45 a.m. So I grabbed Kayla, threw on some clothes (I hadn't even showered yet!), and rushed to my office. I got in around 10:05, dialed the phone card number, and...it didn't work. After three tries, I finally got online to see if Ruth was there. She was. After a few more tries, we finally figured out the problem (there was an extra zero where there shouldn't have been one), I got to talk to her. After confusing the Polish lady who speaks no English and answered the phone. Meanwhile, Kayla fell asleep on my office floor, so when I was done talking to Ruth, I clocked in and did some work. It was a pretty nice morning!

High Class Dining

This morning Kayla woke up at 5:30 wanting to eat. So I got up, fed her, and put her (sleeping!) back into the crib. She instantly woke up and talked to herself for 10 minutes before getting fussy. I rocked her back to sleep and again she woke up when I put her in the crib. So I took her out to the living room for an hour and then put her back to bed. This time she stayed out. Until almost 10 a.m. The Wind Symphony was playing for church and Jason had to be there at 10:30. So while I finished getting ready, Jason fed Kayla. In his tux. It was awesome.

Here's the wind symphony at church (the University Church, that is). See the director standing with his back to the camera? Look at about 11:00 from him in the second row and there's Jason. He's playing 3rd clarinet this year. The music was great. I enjoyed it from the balcony in the mother's room.

A Visit and Pooh

This afternoon our friend Dacia came to visit. We met her in college; she was also an English major and played in band (she's a flautist). She came with a gift for Kayla which included this adorable hat. Unfortunately Kayla's little head is bigger than it appears, and the hat didnt quite fit.

Glory

This is what the sky looked like when I got up this morning. Wow. I had to go outside (yes, in my pjs) and get a shot or two.

Security

Jason put Kayla in her swing so he could get something to eat for lunch, and when he turned around, she was sleeping! When I got home around 15 minutes later, she was still sleeping. Since it was a tad cold, I took my scarf and dropped it on her to keep her warm (it was handier than a blanket at the time). An hour or so later when I walked past the sleeping Little Miss, this is what I saw. It was so cute I had to take a picture. She slept for a total of around two hours.

When I Rise

In spite of having to go back to work, and in spite of my internal clock being slightly off due to DST happening on Sunday, there is one good thing about the mornings this week: The sunrises are really pretty to watch. This was taken out front as I was leaving for work.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho...

I went back to work today. It wasn't too bad...I'm only working mornings this week, and next Monday I start full time again. Mostly what I did this morning was start going through my email, emailed a few people to let them know I was back and to ask them how projects were going, and meet with a couple of coworkers to reclaim some responsibilities I'd shuffled around for my leave time. Oh, and I added a few new pictures to my office door:

A Flighty Visit

A small flock of juncos were enjoying the leaves and small tufts of grass on the side of our house this afternoon. There were probably about two dozen of them all around the truck and our wood pile. They moved quickly, so it was hard to get a good shot of them.